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Monday,
May 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Hizbul network smashed
Kashmiri women assert right to dress the way they want Parties gear up for J&K poll 222 JAK/LI recruits
take oath |
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Hizbul network smashed Srinagar, May 19 The communication centre was busted in the forest area of Kraligam by the 171 Battalion of the force following the arrest of a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Bashir Ahmad Wani yesterday, the spokesman added. Wani, a resident of Kanikote village of Chrar-e-Sharief was arrested by the BSF on a specific information from the village and his interrogation led to the busting of two major hideouts of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, including the communication centre, the spokesman said. The equipment recovered from the communication centre included two high frequency US-made PRC-1099 radio sets (wireless sets), its one booster, two signal receivers, two key-boards, a printer, a digital multimetre, a key telegraph, five plates folded solar panel and main leads for booster, he added. The second hideout destroyed at the disclosure of the captured militant was located in Liden forest. The search of the hideout led to the recovery of a binocular, 17 detonators, 75 metres of cordex wire, 280 rounds of AK ammunition and a large quantity of incriminating documents and propaganda material, the spokesman added.
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Kashmiri women assert right to dress the way they want Srinagar, May 19 But on whether women should wear a burqa, there is no consensus among the fairer sex. “I did not wear a burqa because militants had asked for it. I have been wearing a burqa since the age of 14 and will continue to do so till death,” says 30-year-old housewife Mehvish. “It is my religious duty to cover myself and I do not need anyone to threaten me in the name of religion as extremism in religion is forbidden,” she adds. She, however, does not want to be dragged into a controversy of whether wearing a burqa should be compulsory for all women. “I don’t know.... I think they should do it on their own.” Kashmir valley has traditionally been a conservative society, with fashion from outside world having little, if any, bearing on it. But things seem to have changed drastically in the recent past. It was not very long ago that Lashker-e-Jabbar had used acid to damage faces of some women to make an example out of them for those who don’t observe their diktat of wearing a burqa, but today women can be seen in nearly all kinds of clothing, with jeans making a slow but steady comeback. “I will dress the way I like .... If my parents — who are supposed to know what is best for me — do not object, why should I care what any one else says,” says 17-year-old Shazia, clad in jeans and a figure-hugging top to match a la Delhiite or Mumbaikar. The class XII student at one of the girls’ schools in the Lal Chowk area is probably unaware of the fate suffered by some young girls for — forget about dressing like a woman from West — not covering themselves in a burqa. But something seems to have given her confidence to be bold enough to make such a statement on her mode of dressing. She goes further and says, “We cannot live by the terms set for us by other people with an eternal feeling of fear. I would rather die for what I want to do. The militants might kill me and many more...., but how many?” Mehvish and Shazia are not the only ones who want to break free from diktats and terms set by others. But there are probably too many fence-sitters who flow with the tide and are blown by the wind.
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Parties gear up for J&K poll Srinagar, May 19 Several changes within the mainstream political parties with the prospect of having much bearing on the exercise, have already taken place ahead of the Assembly elections. A number of these political parties have been demanding the conduct of elections under the Governor’s rule in the state. The Hurriyat Conference, which gave a boycott call for the last Assembly and Parliament elections held in the state since 1996, have set at rest the speculations over participation in elections. “The APHC seeks a seat on a peace table for talks for the resolution of the dispute in the interest of a brighter world and brighter future.... Not a seat in the Assembly to do nothing and achieve nothing”, Abdul Ghani Bhat, chairman of the APHC said. In a related development, a group of 10 persons, including a former top leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Imran Rahi here last week announced the constitution of the J&K Peoples Party, a united platform. This is aimed at the “restoration of peace and normalcy in the state through a democratic process.” The ruling National Conference, which has an absolute majority with around 60 seats in the 87-member House is to elect its new president in placeof the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah. His son, Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for External Affairs, representing the Srinagar constituency, in the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive term, is being elected as new president of the NC at a party convention this month. On the other hand, the Congress has appointed its all India General Secretary, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, as its new chief of the Jammu and Kashmir state unit. It had only two members elected out of 46 constituencies in the valley. The party’s candidate from the Shia-dominated Pattan constituency, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari later joined hands with the National Conference and is enjoying ministerial position for the second term during the past six years. The other member, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of the former Union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, elected from her home constituency of Beijbehara in Anantnag district in 1996, later resigned from the Assembly and the party to constitute the J&K Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The BJP, which has no bases in the Kashmir valley, faced a blow with the resignation of the vice-president of its state unit, Abdul Rashid Kabuli recently. The former Union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who constituted his own Peoples Democratic Party more than two years ago has started hectic activity at the ground level. Mufti who claims that the masses in Kashmir were alienated yesterday organised protest demonstrations at about 20 tehsil headquarters against the “misuse” of POTA and the alleged excesses on the common masses by the police and security forces. “The basic issue in Kashmir is to address the grievances of the people... unless these are addressed, the problems cannot be solved”, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said. During his recent visit to the state, the Election Commissioner, Mr T.S. Krishnamurty, said all political parties exuded confidence in the credibility of the Election Commission for conducting a free, fair and smooth poll. Leaders of various political parties who met the Election Commissioner here last week also gave some suggestions regarding electoral rolls. Mr Krishnamurty said sufficient and adequate measures would be made to enable contestants and political parties undertake electioneering smoothly. |
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222 JAK/LI recruits take oath Srinagar, May 19 The award was given at a passing-out parade where 222 Kashmiri recruits took oath to serve the supreme cause of the nation at the JAKLI regimental centre here yesterday. Hailing from different parts of the state the recruits underwent rigorous training for 34 weeks in various activities, including tactics, firing, physical and mental build-up. The recruits had 19 weeks of basic military training and 15 weeks of advance military training.
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